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Forgotten Opera Singers

Sep 28, 2014

He studied singing at the Paris Conservatoire. In
1909 he was engaged by the Paris Opéra-Comique, where he debuted as François in
‘’Le Chemineau’’ of Xavie Leroux. In 1910 he appeared at the Opéra-Comique in
the premiere of the opera ‘’Le Mariage de Télémaque’’ by Claude Terrasse in the
part of Eumée. Here in 1912 he had a special success in ‘’Hoffmanns Erzählungen’’. In 1922 he
sang in the French première of Puccini’s ‘’Gianni Schicchi’’ as Simone. In 1923
he sang in the première of the opera ‘’Pepita Jimenez’’ by Albeniz. Till the 1940’s he continued
his career. His repertoire was very extensive and included roles like Arkel in ‘’Pelléas
et Mélisande’’, Leporello in ‘’Don Giovanni’’, Nilakantha in ‘’Lakmé by
Delibes, Alfonso in ‘’Così fan tutte’’ and Maclrton in ‘’La Dame blanche’’ of Boieldieu. In 1931
he appeared there in the premiere of the opera ‘’Cantegril’’ of Roger Ducasse. He
was later a highly respected pedagogue and among other things the teacher of
Marisa Ferrer, Marisa Beaujon, Henri Medus, Georges Thill and Elsa Ruhlmann.

She had a large dramatique voice and was verry
convincing in her dramatic portrayals. She sang at the Monnaie from 1937 untill
1944. She sang at the liberation of Belgium the French national anthem
on 30 september 1944, as the other anthems of allies in WWII were performed.

She studied singing at the
Royal Conservatory of Brussels and made her debut in 1923 at the Théâtre de la Monnaie, where she
appeared till 1925. Then she sang in Belgian (Lüttich, Ghent)
and French stages (Bordeaux, Marseille, Nice)
and was in the 1935-1938 seasons as well as from 1940 to 1941 season member of
the Opera House in Antwerp.
In 1939 she undertook a tour with which she sang in Puccini's ''La Bohème'' as
Mimi and famous tenor Joseph Schmidt (who had fled as a Jew from Germany) the
role of Rodolfo. She often appeared in Belgian and French radio stations. In
1954 she performed at the Opera House in Mons (Belgium) in
''Si j'étais Roi'' of Adam and retired from the stage; then she was
active as a vocal pedagogue. The Traviata and Adina belonged to her
famous stage roles, also Leila in ''Pêcheurs de perles'' by Bizet.Her
real name was Mme Madeleine Gijsen-David.

His real name was Josef Steuren. He was active first as
a teacher, then, studied singing at the Royal Conservatoire of Antwerp under the pedagogue Edmond Bergers. In 1918 his debut
occurred as a concert singer; his debut on the opera stage took place in 1925
at the Opera House in Antwerp, where he appeared till the forties, and was the manager in the 1935-1942 seasons. He appeared there in the premieres of the operas ''Sly'' by E. Wolf-Ferrari (in the title role) and "Toten Stadt" by Korngold (1923 as Paul). He sang also roles in operettas like Alfred in "Fledermaus"or the title role in Lehárs ''Paganini''.

She made her debut in 1919 at the Théâtre Lyrique in Paris after her study, which occurred in
Paris. In the 1920-1925 seasons she sang at the
Opera House in Nancy and joined in 1925 to the Théâtre de la Monnaie in Brussels.
Here she appeared in 1926 in the French-speaking première of Puccini's ''Turandot'' in the role of Liu. During the following 15 years she had in Brussels a
very successful career. Her repertoire included roles like the title role in ''Louise'' by Charpentier, Mélisande in ''Pelléas
et Mélisande'', the Butterfly, Mimi in ''La Bohème'' and Violetta in ''La
Traviata'', in addition a number of coloratura roles like the Juliette in ''Roméo
et Juliette'' by Gounod, Ophélie in ''Hamlet'' of A. Thomas and the title
part in ''Lakmé'' of Delibes. In 1940 she finished her career which had brought
her success also signifying in the concert hall.

She studied piano at the Paris
Conservatoire and took privately singing lessons. In 1891 she made her debut at the Théâtre de la Monnaie in Brussels as Alice in ''Robert le Diable'' of
Meyerbeer. In 1893 she was engaged by the Grand
Opéra in Paris (beginning role: Alice in ''Robert le Diable'' of Meyerbeer). She appeared there in the premières of the operas ''Sigurd'' of
Reyer (1895) and ''Briseïs'' of E. Chabrier (1899) and on 15. 9. 1893 in the
premiere of the opera ''Deïdamie'' of Henri Maréchal. In 1899 she appeared with great success in Aix-les-Bains as Isolde in ''Tristan und Isolde''. In 1894 she performed at the Opera House in Monte
Carlo in Verdi's ''Aida''. Since 1896 she was a soloist of the Concerts Lamoureux in
Paris. She was married with the tenor
Albert Vaguet (1865-1943). When Albert Vaguet had to give up his career after a heavy
accident (loss of a leg), she also withdrew from the music life; the couple lived that time in Pau, still gave on the occasion of
concerts and been active educationally. In 1955 she still lived
in Pau.

Sep 19, 2014

She was trained by Maurice Declery and made her
debut as a concert singer in 1921 in Antwerpen.
In 1923 she was engaged by the Théâtre de la Monnaie in Brussels, where she sang the role of Frédéric
in ‘’'Mignon’’ of A. Thomas as the first role. Longer than twenty years, till
1945, she remained active at the leading opera house in Belgium. She appeared
here in several French-speaking premières, thus in 1924 as Jaroslavna in ‘’Prince
Igor’’ of Borodin, in 1930 as composer in ‘’Ariadne auf Naxos’’
by R. Strauss, in 1932 in ‘’Les
précieuses Ridicules’’ of Lattuada, in 1933 in ‘’La farsa amorosa’’ of
Zandonai, in 1938 as Felice in the premiere of Milhaud’s opera "Les Malheurs d'Orphée"
(7. 5. 1926). Her star role was the title role in ‘’Mignon’’ of A. Thomas,
which she sang about 140 times, but her repertoire also included roles like the
Octavian in "Rosenkavalier",
Charlotte in ‘’Werther'’’ of Massenet, Marguerite in "La Dame blanche" of Boieldieu. In
addition she also sang with big success operetta roles like the title role in Offenbach’s "Großherzogin von Gerolstein",
Sonja in "Zarewitsch"of Léhar and Orlowsky "Fledermaus". She
was married the conductor Maurice Bastin, who worked in Marseille and Brussels. During the Second
World War she joined to an opposition group against the German occupying and
was arrested during several months in the prison.

She was trained by her father and by Mme
Labarra in Brussels
and first appeared as a concert singer. In 1896 she made her stage debut at the
Théâtre des Galéries in
Brussels. Since
1897 she sang at the Théâtre de la Monnaie in Brussels
with great success, especially in ‘’La Périchole’’ of Offenbach. In the 1901-1903 seasons she sang at
the Covent Garden in London.
In 1909 she was engaged by the Metropolitan Opera in New York (beginning role:
Lola in ‘’Cavalleria Rusticana’’); here she sang primarily the light
mezzo-soprano roles like the Siebel in ‘’Faust’’ by Gounod, Nicklausse in ‘’Les
Contes d'Hoffmann’’, Meg Page in ‘’Falstaff’’ of Verdi, Mlle Long in ‘’La fille
de Mme Angot’’ of Lecocq, Javotte in ‘’Manon’’ of Massenet and in 1914 the role
of Angella in the American première of Montemezzi’s ‘’Amore dei tre Re’’. In
1912 she appeared at the Metropolitan Opera in the American première of Wolf-Ferrari’s
‘’Le Donne curiose’’ under Toscanini as Beatrice. Under Arturo Toscanini she
sang in 1913 in the première of ‘’Boris Godunov’’ and in a glittering performance
of ‘’Otello’’ as a partner of Leo Slezak and Frances Alda in the part of Emilia.
In 1910 she sang in the première of Auber’s ‘’Fra Diavolo’’. In 1913 she took
part in the guest performance of the Metropolitan Opera in Paris. In the 1915-1916 she was engaged by the
Chicago Opera. Then she lived in Canada where she appeared with the
Canadian National Opera Company and gave concerts. Long years she worked as a vocal
pedagogue in Montreal.

He studied singing at the Conservatoire de Paris. Since about 1930
he sang in both big opera houses in Paris, at the Grand Opéra (1932-1936, debut as Lohengrin) and at the Opéra-Comique. He
reached his most significant achievements here appearing in dramatic roles:
as Samson in ''Samson et Dalila'' by Saint-Saëns, Radames in ''Aida'', Otello of Verdi, as Sigurd in the opera of the same name by Reyer, as Faust in ''La damnation de Faust'' of Berlioz and as José in ''Carmen''. He made guest appearances at the French province, however, has not
appeared apparently abroad. In 1955 he retired from the stage and worked since
then as a vocal pedagogue.

In the 1907-08 season she had her first success
at the Théâtre de la Monnaie in Brussels
as Venus in ‘’Tannhäuser’’ of R. Wagner and as Elena in ‘’'Mefistofele’’ of
Boito. In 1908 she made her debut at the Grand Opéra in Paris again as Venus in ‘’Tannhäuser’’ and
remained till 1910 a member of this opera house. Here she sang among other
things in 1909 in the premiere of the opera ‘’La Forêt’’ of Savart. In the 1910-20
seasons she appeared at the opera houses of Lyon and Bordeaux and guested in other leading opera
theatres in the French province. She was was known as an interpreter of roles
like the Venus, Santuzza in ‘’Cavalleria Rusticana’’, Valentine in ‘’Les
Huguénots’’ and Selika in ‘’L'Africaine’’ of Meyerbeer.

Sep 15, 2014

He received his first education at the Music
Academy of Ciney in Belgium
and then continued in Lüttich under Jules Massart. He made his debut in
1926 at the Théâtre de la Monnaie in Brussels in the role of Nicias in ''Thaïs'' of Massenet. He remained a
member of this leading Belgian opera house till 1952. He appeared at the Théâtre
de la Monnaie in different French-speaking premières, among other things
in ''Turandot'' of Puccini (1926 as Pang), ''Mona Lisa'' of Max von Schillings
(1928 as Alessio), ''Debora e Jaele'' of Pizzetti (1929), ''Ariadne auf Naxos'' of Richard Strauss (1930 as Brighella), ''Wozzeck'' of Alban Berg
(1932 as captain) and ''Der Liebestrank'' of R. Zandonai (1933 as Renzo). He
sang there also on 29. 4. 1929 the role of Alexis in the premiere of Prokofiev's opera ''Der Spieler'' (''Le Joueur''). Other roles from his repertoire included the Steuermann in "Fliegenden Holländer", Walther von Stolzing in "Meistersingern", Assad in "Die Königin von Saba" of Goldmark, Herodes in ''Salome'' of R. Strauss, Turiddu in ''Cavalleria Rusticana'', Julien in ''Louise'' of Charpentier, Canio in ''Pagliacci'', Pinkerton in ''Madama Butterfly''. He made also guest appearances in France,
Holland and Switzerland. Probably he retired from the stage in 1955.

Chronology of some appearances1926--1952 Brussels Théâtre de la Monnaie

He studied singing at the Paris Conservatoire and
won in 1911, by the end of his study, the first price. In 1911 he made his
debut at the Paris Opéra-Comique. In 1917 he appeared there in the premiere of
G. Charpentier’s opera ‘’Julien’’. His repertoire included roles like Chapelou
in ‘’Le Postillon de Lonjumeau’’ byAdam, Gérald in ‘’Lakmé’’ of Delibes, George
Brown in ‘’Ladameblanche’’ of Boieldieu, Nadir in ‘’Pêcheurs
de perles’’ by Bizet. Later he sang in many famous opera houses in France and Belgium.

He studied singing under Bora Lévy. After
the first appearances at the French provincial theatres he made his debut in 1925 at the
Paris Opéra-Comique as Canio in ''Pagliacci''. He appeared there also as Tristan, then continued, however, his career at the famous French provincial
theatres. In 1928 he was engaged by the Grand Opéra in Paris, where he remained
active till 1932. He made guest appearances also in Marseille, Bordeaux, Toulouse
and Lyon, however, gave also successful guest performances
abroad. Thus he appeared in 1932 in Amsterdam
and appeared in the 1937-1948 seasons often at the Théâtre de la Monnaie in Brussels. At the Opera House in Strasbourg he appeared above all in Wagner's operas. Already in 1924 he sang at the Théâtre de Champs-Élysées in Paris in
the premiere of the opera ''Les Burgraves'' of L. Sachs, in 1931 at the Grand
Opéra in Paris in ''Guercoeur'' of A. Magnard. In 1948 he appeared at the Théâtre
de la Monnaie in Brussels
for the last time. His repertoire included roles like Tannhäuser, Tristan, Siegmund in ''Die Walküre'', Loge in ''Rheingold'', Parsifal, Herodes in ''Salome'' of R. Strauss, Otello of
Verdi, Canio in ''Pagliacci'' and Énée in ''Les Troyens'' of Berlioz.

He was born into a Jewish choirmaster's
family and was a cousin of the famous composer Arnold Schönberg (1874-1951). In
1907 he began his stage career at the Vienna Volksoper, where he remained till 1910. In the 1910-1912 seasons he appeared at the Municipal
Theatre in Mainz, in the 1912-1913 season at the
Municipal Theatre in Kiel.
From 1915 to 1923 he worked at the German Land Theatre in Prague, in the 1924-1925 season at the Municipal
Theatre of Stettin. He made guest appearances at the Municipal Theatre in Graz (1909), at the Court Theatre in Wiesbaden
(1911) at the Munich Court Opera, also in Amsterdam
and Hague (1921). He was known as a concert singer and also as an interpreter
of contemporary vocal works. Thus he sang on 23. 2. 1913 in the Vienna premiere of the "Gurrelieder" of Arnold
Schönberg in the part of Waldemar and performed also in the Leipzig première of this work (1914). He
lived later as a vocal pedagogue in London.
His repertoire included among other things roles like Don José in ‘’Carmen’’, Erik
in "Fliegenden Holländer",
Walther von Stolzing in "Meistersingern".

Sep 14, 2014

He studied singing at the Paris Conservatory and
concluded his study in 1900. He was engaged in 1901 by the Grand Opéra in Paris.
There he debuted as Scaurus in ''Les Barbares'' of Saint-Saëns. In 1902 he
appeared at the Grand Opéra in the premiere of the opera ''Orsola'' of Paul and
Lucien Hillemachers. His repertoire included roles like Mefistofele in ''Faust'' of Gounod, Sparafucile in ''Rigoletto'' and Norfolk in ''Henri VIII'' of Saint-Saëns. He also had a great success in Nice
and Monte Carlo (1904).
His records show him as a bass of the great vocal strength
and strong personal radiation, in addition, as a singer who had still rooted
completely in the tradition of the 19-th century.

He was trained at the Paris Conservatory and belonged to the leading French
basses of his time. In 1899 he sang the role of king in ''Tristan und Isolde'' and then in 1902 the role of Hagen in the French première of ''Götterdämmerung'' at the Théâtre du Château d'Eau in Paris under Alfred Cortot. He was active in the 1890-91, 1900-1901 and 1903-07 seasons at the Théâtre de la Monnaie in Brussels, where he appeared on 30. 11. 1903 in
the premiere of E. Chausson's ''Le Roi Arthus'' and in 1907 a smaller role in the
première of the opera ''Salome'' of Richard Strauss. In 1903 and 1908-09 seaqsons he sang at the Opera House in Monte
Carlo, in the 1910-11 season at the Grand Opéra in Paris.
In the 1909-10 season he was engaged by the Manhattan
Opera House in New York; he sang there in the
New York
première of Massenet's ''Hérodiade''. He also performed at the Covent Garden in London.

He was a son of the bass Léon Gresse, who was
active at the Paris Grand Opéra. André Gresse wanted to become originally a
painter and visited the Academy of Fine Arts in Brussels,
but since 1893 he studied singing at the Paris Conservatory under Taskin,
Melchissèdec and Duvernoy. He made his debut in 1896 at the Opéra-Comique in Paris as Commendatore in ‘’Don
Giovanni’’, while Victor Maurel sang the title role. At the Opéra-Comique he
appeared among other things as Gaveston in ‘’La Dame blanche’’ of Boieldieu and
as Samba-Hamet in ‘’Le Spahi’’ of Lucien Lambert. When his father finished in
1900 his stage career at the Grand Opéra, he became his successor; here as a
beginning role he took over the Saint Bris in ‘’Huguenots’’ by Meyerbeer. Till
1930 he belonged to the most prominent singers of this opera house. On 10. 2. 1910
he created at the Opera House in Monte
Carlo in the premiere of Massenet’s ‘’Don Quichotte’’
the role of Sancho Panza, while Fedor Schaljapin appeared as Don Quichotte. He
also sang in the premieres of the operas ‘’Sapho’’ of Massenet (Opéra-Comique,
27. 11. 1897 as Césaire), ‘’Le Juif Polonais’’ by Camille Erlanger
(Opéra-Comique, 11. 4. 1900), ‘’Bacchus’’ of Massenet (Grand Opéra, 2. 5. 1909),
‘’Le Miracle’’ by Georges Húe (30. 12. 1910 Grand Opéra) and ‘’Scémo’’ of
Alfred Bachelet (6. 5. 1914 Grand Opéra). He sang at the Grand Opéra in the premières
of several Wagner's operas and, besides, sang the parts of the Fasolt (‘’Rheingold’’,
1909), Titurel (‘’Parsifal’’, 1914) and Marke (‘’Tristan’’, 1904, after the French
première at the Nouveau Théâtre in Paris,
1899). Approximately thirty years he was the famous Mephisto of the Grand Opéra
in Gounod’s ‘’Faust’’. In 1930 he retired from the stage. He worked as a
professor at the Paris Conservatory. One of his numerous pupils was the
baritone Martial Singher.

Sep 13, 2014

He received his education at the Paris Conservatory. In 1927 he was engaged by the Paris Opéra-Comique, where he
debuted as Tonio in ''Pagliacci''. He worked till 1946 at this opera house, where he sang roles ike Lescaut in ''Manon'' of Massenet, Scarpia in ''Tosca'', Albert in ''Werther'' of Massenet and Pelléas in ''Pelléas
et Mélisande'' by Debussy, his star role. In 1937 he appeared there in the
première of Monteverdi's ''Incoronazione di Poppea''. He made guest appearances at the Théâtre de la Monnaie in Brussels, at the Opera House in Monte Carlo as well as at the leading
opera houses of the French province. In 1931, 1935 and 1938 he performed at the Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires, in 1937 at the Covent Garden in London (Pelléas in ''Pelléas et Mélisande''). His repertoire included roles like Escamillo in
''Carmen'', Germont in ''La Traviata'', Marcello in Puccini's ''La
Bohème'' and Sharpless in ''Madama Butterfly''.